Winger Jordan Caron stayed out on the ice a little longer than Benoit Pouliot in Saturday’s morning skate, taking some extra skating in what could be an indication that he may be the healthy scratch vs. the Lightning. There’s both a “could” and a “may” in that sentence just to illustrate how tough it is to tell.

If Caron does sit, Pouliot would make his Bruins debut. One would think that whichever of the two played the first game (Caron) would get a few games to prove himself, and it would be surprising to see changes made based on losing a one-goal game to a good team on a night in which the B’s had obvious distractions.

Said Claude Julienafter the skate: “I don’t think I would make any changes based on the result of the game and the way it was played. I don’t think I would ever do that. I didn’t think we played well as a team, but that’s about where I’ll leave it.”

That’s pretty cryptic, but it may suggest that if Julien makes a change, it was one he had planned on doing anyway, perhaps as a way to give both Caron and Pouliot ice time in the first two games.

Caron himself says didn’t know until just before the ceremonies Thursday that he was playing vs. the Flyers. Skating on a line with Chris Kellyand Tyler Seguin, Caron registered no shots on goal in 10:20 of ice time.

“It wasn’t my best game, but overall I thought it went pretty good,” he said Saturday. “We did some good stuff, and I did some good stuff defensively. I had a few chances offensively, Segs had a few good chances. It was an OK game overall.”

Even if Caron does play Thursday, one would imagine that with the third line being the only to carry an extra guy in practice, he and Pouliot are in a close competition for ice time. Considering Caron was in a similar situation last year entering the season with Daniel Paille, he doesn’t mind it.

“I think it’s good in a certain way,” Caron said. “It pushes you even harder. You can’t take a day off in practice. You always have to go 100 percent. I think it’s a good battle.”

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was among those to take the option for Saturday’s optional morning skate. Though Claude Julien does not comment on such things, the two-time Vezina-winner is still expected to start when the B’s host the Lightning.

The Lightning will not have a morning skate on Saturday, as they played Friday night in Carolina, defeating the Hurricanes by a 5-1 score. That means no mind games from Guy Boucher this time.

The Bruins’ banner-raising ceremony figured to be the most memorable part of Thursday night for the B’s, and the Flyers made sure of it by defeating the Bruins, 2-1, in the season-opener.

The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Tyler Seguin set up a Brad Marchand power play goal. The Flyers got on the board with a power play goal of their own thanks to Claude Giroux in the final minute of the first period, and Jakub Voracek made it 2-1 with less than three seconds remaining in the first.

Both the Bruins and the Garden crowd appeared tired by the time the second period had rolled around, and after a scoreless second, the B’s woke up in the third period. The first line, which was nonexistent through the first two periods (see below) woke up, but an improved third-period effort wasn’t enough to mount a comeback.

– Pretty sloppy first game for the top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton. Each had their bright spots, as Krejci nearly set up a Brad Marchand goal during a line change, but collectively the line didn’t get into much of a rhythm and failed to connect on its passes. The line didn’t have a shot on goal until the third period and was a minus-1.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, Horton failed to bury an opportunity in front with an open net. He took too long upon catching the pass from Krejci, and eventually had his bid blocked by the stick of Kimmo Timonen. Krejci nearly tied the game with les than five minutes to go, as Bryzgalov accidentally dropped the puck in the crease after Krejci’s wrist shot, but he covered it before the center could get to it.

– The members of the first line weren’t the only Bruins to fail to get pucks on Bryzgalov. The Bruins had just six shots on goal in both the first and second periods. The only forwards with multiple shots on goal were Marchand (3) and Seguin (2).

– Kelly missed the net on a 2-on-1 with Seguin in the first period. The new co-aletnerate captain played well in centering the new-look third line, but he won’t get easier opportunities than that. Given that the Bruins would lose a low-scoring game, a blown opportunity like that looks even worse.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

– Power play woes were the norm last season until the B’s went 5-for-27 on the man advantage against the Canucks. On Thursday, the new-look second unit of Joe Corvo, Patrice Bergeron, Marchand, Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley yielded Marchand’s first period tally. Seguin hit Marchand with a long pass from just outside the neutral zone to set up Marchand. The B’s ended up a modest 1-for-5.

– Speaking of Marchand and Seguin, they were two of the best players on the ice Thursday. Marchand had plenty of scoring opportunities, as he undressed Chris Pronger in the second period before Bryzgalov poked the puck away. The Flyers’ netminder robbed Marchand again later in the period with a glove save in front.

As for Seguin, there was a lot to like about his line with Chris Kelly and Jordan Caron. The second-year player looked much more assertive than he was in his rookie season, and he created opportunities in areas where he may have been timid a season ago. Keep an eye on that line going forward.

According to a tweet from the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa, defenseman Adam McQuaid (illness) will not play in the Bruins’ season-opener Thursday against the Flyers. Matt Bartkowski, who was set to begin the season as the team’s seventh defenseman, will reportedly play in McQuaid’s place.

McQuaid participated in Thursday’s morning skate, but coach Claude Julien said after the skate that a decision on his status would be made closer to game time.

By now the cliche about how teams will come out harder against the Bruins because they’re Stanley Cup champions has been used plenty, but there may be no better case of that than Thursday.

The Bruins will be facing the team they eliminated with an easy sweep in the second round last spring when they open the season Thursday against the Flyers. The Bruins’ steamrolling over the Flyers could be considered among the reasons the Flyers blew it up in the offseason, trading captainMike Richards as well as leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter.

On Thursday, the remaining members of that team, as well as the newcomers, will have to watch the Bruins raise their championship banner in a wild environment at TD Garden. If that can’t motivate a team on opening night, nothing can.

“It’s opening night, so people are jacked up,” defenseman and alternate captain Andrew Ference said after the Bruins’ morning skate. “I think there’s always more concentration on your own team than there is on what’s going on on the other side. Obviously, they want to ruin the party. That’s a no-brainer.”

Ference has plenty of experience being the “other team” at a team’s banner-raising ceremony. He actually made his NHL debut in Dallas against the Stars when they raised their Stanley Cup champions banner in 1999. The Bruins were the Ducks’ opponent for Anaheim’s home opener in 2007, so Ference has twice been a visitor at a banner-raising.

“I can remember a lot more from the Anaheim game, because for the Dallas one, my head was spinning around,” Ference recalled. “It’s an opening night. Team opening nights are a little bit crazier. You wait a little longer in the room for all the pageantry to get done with. You’re mentally prepared for it.”

Players in the Bruins’ room could imagine the Flyers would be motivated to come out harder against the team that ended their season. Guys like David Krejcidiscussed the importance of focusing on themselves, but Ference noted that given the rivalry that has existed between the two teams, Thursday would be a challenge one way or another.

“Even if we didn’t [eliminate them], it’s a Flyers-Bruins game,” Ference said. “Philly’s always gong to come in and give you a heck of a game. Especially at the start of the season, that’s when you see the crazy hockey. You see some of the big scorers and the seesawing of teams trying to find out who they are. After Thanksgiving, it kind of settles down a bit, but the start of the season is always a little bit crazy.

“You never know what to expect, and it’s usually pretty fun for highlight sand real energetic games. Not always the tightest systems, so no matter if it’s Philly or whoever, we’re going to have tough games and have to be on our toes for all of them.”

Adam McQuaid participated in the Bruins’ morning skate Thursday, taking the ice for the first time since Tuesday. The second-year defenseman had been under the weather, causing him to leave Tuesday’s practice early and miss Wednesday’s altogether.

Claude Julien expressed some optimism after the skate but said the Bruins will make a decision “closer to the game” regarding whether McQuaid will play. If McQuaid can’t go, Matt Bartkowski will play in his place.

Then there’s the question of who will be the healthy scratch among forwards. One would imagine it would be down to third-line wingers Jordan Caron and Benoit Pouliot. Julien did not reveal who would end up watching from the press, saying “we told everybody to be ready for tonight.”

Just a hunch, but the feeling here is that the Bruins pull a bit of a surprise and make Pouliot the scratch.

Either Mark Recchi had some inside information, or he’s incredibly insightful.

The Bruins on Thursday announced thatAndrew Ferenceand Chris Kelly will share the ‘A’ last worn by the retired winger. Ference and Kelly were the two guys Recchi named first when asked Tuesday about the letter.

Ference will wear the letter for home games, while Kelly will wear it on the road. The two will switch halfway through the season, with Kelly getting it in home games.

The Bruins had the options of giving the letter to one player or sharing it with multiple guys. In the end, they chose to go with two players, and they’re confident they picked the right two.

“We didn’t think we’d get as much impact with just moving it around all the time,” Julien said. “There’s got to be some sort of stability, but our leadership group remains bigger than the letters that are out there. We’re going to take advantage of that inside the dressing room.”

Ference has been with the Bruins since 2007, while Kelly was acquired from the Senators last February. The Bruins didn’t let the fact that Kelly has less than a season of experience with the team get in the way of him being recognized for his leadership.

“He was known as a great leader in Ottawa, but he sort of felt his way through before he started showing those qualities to the extreme,” Julien said. “In the playoffs, it was pretty obvious what kind of a leader he was. Our guys and the coaching staff recognized that.”